Sleight of Hand
by HashtagLEH
Summary: Danny had gone to the bar to be upset about Henley leaving while he had some alcohol in front of him. Was it his fault he'd never been to a bar before, and therefore didn't notice that this was a gay one? Certainly not. ("My name's Jack. I saw you looked uncomfortable with the creep who wouldn't take no for an answer, and figured I'd help out.") Part 1 of Tricks of the Trade


**I started this fic with the intention of making a Jack Daniels ambiguous and teasing in a foreshadowing sort of way, but when I got to the point that I should stop to make it so, I couldn't help going on with their romance.  
However, I still remain completely unashamed. ;)**

 **...**

J. Daniel Atlas was not a heavy drinker. He didn't like getting completely wasted, losing control of his actions and not remembering it later. However, he supposed that a night like tonight was as good a night as any to change that.

He sat at the bar, two empty shots next to him and a full one next to his hand while he debated drinking it or not. He fiddled with a queen of hearts card in one hand, turning it over repeatedly and peering at it through slightly hazy eyes. It reminded him of Henley – that card was like her calling card. But she'd left, because he'd apparently insinuated that she was fat. He hadn't _meant_ to offend her when he said she wouldn't fit through the trap door, but he could readily admit that he had never been good with, ah – basic social cues and interaction. He'd been called an asshole enough times that he didn't care anymore, but he couldn't help correcting people when they were wrong. Some might say he was arrogant, but he would just say that he wanted something done _right_ , and most people didn't understand that. When things didn't go how they were supposed to it made him uncomfortable and twitchy, so he tried to cut it off before it had the chance to happen. It had the effect of making him look like a conceited ass, but he couldn't help the fact that he was a control freak, as so many people liked to put it.

"Hey, can I buy you a drink?"

"I've already got one," Danny said flatly, not looking up. It took him a moment to process that the voice came from a man, and he looked up through confused, slightly clouded eyes. The guy that sat next to him was probably ten years older than him, with a day's growth of beard and hair that looked like it hadn't been washed for a couple of days. If he cleaned up a bit, he wouldn't actually be all that bad looking.

"Aw, come on," the guy cajoled. "I'm sure another one wouldn't hurt – and you look like you need it."

Danny was growing uncomfortable, an odd feeling for him. Was this guy hitting on him?

"Actually, too much alcohol can cause lifelong liver and kidney troubles," Danny said matter-of-factly. "And I'm not a heavy drinker as it is, so it wouldn't be a good idea for me to drink too much tonight or I'd get too drunk."

"Nothin' wrong with getting a little drunk," the guy laughed, bumping his arm with his own. "That's why we come to a bar, isn't it? Come on – don't be a spoilsport. I'll get you whichever one you want."

Danny was only becoming increasingly uncomfortable at what he was sure now was definitely flirting. "No, I said I'm fine," he insisted. "I really don't need to poison myself more than I already have."

"Some of these drinks shouldn't even be considered poison – they're too fruity," the man said, apparently not ready in the least to give up. "Could get one of those."

Danny was just about to get up and leave when he heard a voice right behind him. "James!" He turned his head slightly, to show the one calling to him that he was not, in fact, this 'James', but the man – boy, really – only hurried closer to him.

"Hey, man, I got you your Sprite," he said hurriedly, setting the glass of what he assumed was Sprite down in front of Danny. "You didn't throw up again while I was gone, did you?" He blinked as though just noticing the guy next to him. "Oh – hey, man. Were you helping him while he was throwing up?" He didn't wait for an answer and ran a hand through his hair in an agitated manner. "Shit, I'm really sorry, man. Our other friend is cleaning it out of the car right now, but I can't deal with that shit so I grabbed the Sprite. You doing better now, James?" he blinked as though concerned at Danny.

"Yeah," Danny muttered, grabbing the glass of Sprite and taking a sip of it. "Thanks."

"Hey, if he starts barfing again, I can't deal with it," the kid warned the guy who had moments ago been flirting with him, but was now leaning away slightly. "I'm a sympathetic vomiter. So if it happens again, will you help him? Eric would normally, but he's busy with the car…"

"Sorry," the other guy said, sounding completely insincere as he hurriedly rose from his seat. "I had a friend I was supposed to call."

And with that, he was gone.

The kid laughed a bit scornfully before sitting in the chair the other guy had just vacated.

"My name's Jack," he said, sticking out his hand for Danny to shake. While he did, he said, "I saw you looked uncomfortable with the creep who wouldn't take no for an answer, and figured I'd help out." Grabbing one of the straws from the dispenser, he dipped it into the Sprite in front of Danny and took a large gulp before pulling away.

"Yeah, thanks," Danny muttered, rubbing his head tiredly. "I'm Danny. I don't think I've ever been hit on by another man before."

Jack laughed amusedly. "Well, what'd you expect, coming into a gay bar?" At the look on Danny's face as his eyes glanced around the bar where men and women could be seen kissing and grinding those of their own sex, Jack's expression turned to one of surprised amusement. "You didn't know this was a gay bar?"

Danny sighed. "Must've slipped past my attention." Now that he was looking, he noticed something else. "Are you even old enough to be drinking?"

Jack waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, but my cousin is the bartender tonight, so he doesn't care. I'm not a hard drinker, anyway." Changing the subject, he said, "So, you've obviously got a lot on your mind, and distracted enough that you don't even notice the guy giving the other guy a blowjob against the wall over there, where quite the crowd has amassed to watch. You don't seem like the type to be so inattentive. What gives?"

Danny sighed and decided that since he was never going to see this guy again, he may as well tell him, at the very least to get it off his chest. People always said that talking helped, right? He wouldn't know – he'd never tried it. But tonight seemed to be a night of firsts.

"My assistant quit today because I was a jackass and accidentally insinuated that she was too fat for the job," he said bluntly.

"Too fat for…?" Jack was confused, and cut himself off, shaking his head to clear it. "What could you _possibly_ have her doing that she'd be too fat for?"

"Magic shows," Danny said absentmindedly. "She can't fit through the trap door anymore."

"Hm – I suppose that would make sense," Jack decided thoughtfully. "Still, sometimes it's just the _way_ that it's said that gets the ladies upset. Trust me, I've got three cousins who are practically sisters, and sometimes they are more like sharks than they are college girls."

"And she's bigger than Rebecca, but she has more charisma," Danny further explained. "I didn't want her to _leave_ – I just meant that she should lose some weight to fit through the trap door."

"Bad move, bro," Jack shook his head sympathetically. "Have you tried apologizing to her?"

"I've never been good with apologizing," Danny said with a sigh. "Why can't I just buy her something and she knows what I mean?"

"Because that's how _guys_ work," Jack said with a shake of his head. "Girls think over their emotions more than guys do. Girls don't want _things_ ; they just want to feel like they're special and important."

"Yeah, I've never been the best at social cues," Danny admitted reluctantly, blaming the alcohol for his flapping mouth. "Give me a deck of cards and I can do it, but people are more complicated. Girls, even more so."

"You do card tricks, too?" Jack said with a grin. "Can you throw them? Chop a pencil in half, and the like?"

"Never tried it," Danny said with a shrug, running the tip of his finger around the still full shot of tequila. "I'm more of the 'Pick a Card' or 'Three Card Monte' variety of tricks."

"Oh, you have _so_ much to learn," Jack said with a grin, pulling a deck of cards out of his leather jacket and tipping them into his hand. "Over there – the bottles of alcohol. I'll throw a single card and break one of them. Which one do you want me to do?"

"You can _not_ be serious," Danny said flatly, looking doubtfully between the cards and the bottles a bit of distance away.

" _Any_ of them," Jack said with a laugh, waving him to get on with deciding.

"Alright," Danny said doubtfully, and then pointed to what he thought would probably be the most difficult one. "That one on top, behind the red bottle. You can't break any other ones, either. Just the one."

"Perfect," Jack said confidently, and drew one card from the deck, taking aim…

The aforementioned bottle wobbled when the card hit it, and it fell to its side, shattering against the next bottle but leaving the bottles around it intact. The couple of inches of whiskey poured out of it, dripping down the shelf and to the floor. Jack turned back to look at Danny, smiling smugly at the look of surprise on his face.

"That was…pretty amazing," Danny admitted.

"So, I'm not sure about trap doors," Jack said casually, "But I do know a few magic tricks of my own, and I can bring charisma to the table. You need another guy up there?"

Danny's look turned slightly suspicious. "You're not trying to hit on me too, are you?"

Rather than being offended, Jack laughed at the question. "I'll admit, you're pretty cute," he acknowledged. "But I do want to do some more magic than just some street tricks. And, I heard you're short an assistant."

"Alright," Danny said doubtfully. "I'll give you a chance. But you need to be talented and _competent_ to stay on."

"Sweet!" Jack beamed. "It's a good thing I know I'm both of those things!"

As they made their way out of the apparently _gay_ bar, Danny could only wonder just what he had signed up for with this kid.

…

 _Three Years Later_

The two of them panted heavily as they got closer to the door of their Chicago apartment, both fumbling to find the keys. Neither could remember whose pocket it was in, but really it only gave them more of an excuse to grope each other through their clothes, "trying to find it". Not that they needed an excuse.

Danny finally found the keys in Jack's pocket, and broke the kiss for the briefest instant to glance at the knob, being sure to put the key in the proper place, before Jack captured his lips again. Roughly turning the key, he unlocked the door and turned the knob, using his foot to kick it open enough.

" _Finally_ ," Jack breathed as they got inside, and he kicked the door closed behind him while he moved his mouth down Danny's neck, aggressively licking and sucking, leaving small, bruising marks in his path.

"Someone getting a little jealous?" Danny teased, though his hitched breath somewhat ruined the effect he was going for.

"You have no – fucking – _clue_ ," Jack said between bites, deft fingers moving to unbutton Danny's shirt before shoving it off his shoulders, Danny returning the favor for him. "All those girls – throwing themselves at you and your _magic tricks_ – and having no idea you're _mine_." The last word was said with a harder nip to the juncture where his neck met his shoulder, soothed immediately after with Jack's tongue.

"Unnngh," Danny groaned, head tipping back while his legs went weak.

"Couch tonight, then?" Jack suggested, quick hands undoing the other's belt buckle.

"Please," Danny said hoarsely, unable to wait for them to make it to the bedroom before he exploded. With a soft laugh and another passionate kiss involving tongue, Jack shoved the other's pants down and off before doing the same to his own.

As Danny fell back on the couch, Jack moved to straddle him just below the hips, bending the top half of his body down to hold Danny's head between his hands while he kissed him. Danny grabbed the backs of Jack's thighs in an attempt to bring him closer.

When Jack moved his head to nibble the other side of Danny's neck, Danny caught something out the corner of his eye. At first he tried to dismiss it, too turned on to care, but as what he saw played itself again in his head, he found his confusion growing to take more control in his brain than his lover bent over him. Not right – it wasn't right.

"J-Jack – wait," Danny tried saying through his distraction.

"What's wrong?" Jack murmured, lips soothing a particular bite behind his ear.

Danny pushed lightly at Jack's chest to get him off. Jack obeyed the wordless request, sitting up with tousled hair and confused, though still aroused eyes.

"Someone's been in here," Danny said, sitting up. Jack instantly grew more alert, moving off of Danny's lap.

"What? How?" He didn't even bother asking him how he knew – even in a mess that Jack would never be able to make sense of, Danny knew exactly where everything was at all times. If something was out of place or different from how they'd left it, Danny would be the first one to know.

"Well, you're the one who always says that nothing is ever locked," Danny teased lightheartedly, moving over to the end table beside the couch. He picked up two tarot cards – one said "Lover", while the other said "Death". Turning them over, he saw a date, location, and time – like an invitation, but a lot more ominous. For one thing, they had no idea who it was from.

Danny handed one of the cards to Jack and commented, "They're invitations."

"Yes, I can see that," Jack said without heat. "But for _what_ , is what I want to know."

Danny shrugged. "The only way we'll find out is if we go," he said. "New York City. You up for it?"

Jack looked up from the card to grin crookedly at him. "Sure, why not? It'll be some excitement, if nothing else."

"I'll find us a couple of plane tickets," Danny promised, already mentally making lists and plans in his head.

"Alright," Jack agreed, before plucking the card from Danny's hand and putting both of them back on the end table. "But for now, I'd really like to get back to what we were doing before the interruption."

"We only have four days before we've got to be there," Danny said as though reminding him, while Jack pressed closer to him where he sat. "Making plans earlier is better for costs and being sure we can get seats next to each other, not to mention hotel plans when we get to…"

"Danny," Jack breathed, pushing him back into the couch. "Just shut up and kiss me."

 **...**

 **I thought about adding a bit of foreshadowing for the movie that everyone knows about, but I think this is a nice ending. What do you guys think? This is totally, unashamedly, my favorite OTP in this fandom. And I highly anticipate that I will continue to write them.  
Thanks for reading!**


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